Regulating mercury with the Clear Skies Act : the resulting impacts on innovation, human health, and the global community

The 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments require the U.S. EPA to control mercury emission outputs from coal-burning power plants through implementation of MACT, Maximum Achievable Control Technology, standards. However, in 2003 the Bush Administration revealed an alternative and controversial regulatory strategy for mercury, developing a cap and trade emissions credit trading program under the Clear Skies Initiative. Although emissions trading was proven to be a successful regulatory strategy for sulfur dioxide through the 1992 Acid Rain Program, the uniquely dangerous properties of mercury make this market-based regulation risky for certain vulnerable segments of the population. Since its unveiling, the Clear Skies cap and trade approach has been criticized for being too industry-friendly and inadequately setting limits on mercury emissions. Current challenges to the Clear Skies approach to the regulation of mercury claim that not only is it illegal under the Clear Air Act, but that it inhibits innovation and undermines an international strategy to reduce anthropogenic mercury emissions. This thesis evaluates the critiques of Clear Skies and the reasoning given by the EPA in defense of the regulation.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Sweeney, Meghan (Meghan Kathleen)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Nicholas A. Ashford.

• Technology and Policy Program.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/34535

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/34535